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The last post was the 21 things I KNOW at 42. At the end I said I'd consider writing 21 more things to make it 42 in total & then ...

Sunday

Shoe Personality of the Week: 5/16/2011

I swear the older I get more I live the more I rebuke the concept of January 1 of any year being THE New Year. Calendrically speaking (yup, I said it) it makes sense, assuming you buy into the concept of 365 days constituting a year. I’ve never known any other way so it’s not crossed my mind to question it. I’m still not questioning the length of a year, though I’m sure it could be debated culturally, religiously or even geographically as it relates to harvest seasons, etc. Like I said though, as I continue to live I see newness & this cycle of beginnings and completions very differently.

It’s May & the popular season of 2 very specific kinds of beginnings. Weddings are coming up in my life but graduations precede and come in between as well. The 1st week of June will mark the graduation of Miss September from the 8th grade and moving on to high school. Give us pause…sigh… Before her was LilEsh. My younger cousin/sister/daughter graduated from Virginia Union University yesterday. This is a child that was counted out early & assumed she would simply live pretty. I wanted more for her than this & took an interest in broadening her horizons when she was 15 months old. I was just 15 myself at the time & had no idea what our time together would mean to the piecing together of her future.

My baby is all growed up now and about to transition into the work world and having to give up on being spoiled as much by her family. I’m looking for a couple meals on her. More than that, even instead of that, I would simply enjoy watching her have greater access to the joys the world offers. It’s time for her to travel without it being scheduled family vacations. The prospect of apartment hunting, going to sporting events, following me on more crazy adventures, building up to being able to lift her own body weight, & the inevitable big girl relationships… All of it is so exciting to me, seeing the next 1 come up & into this All Girls Club that is womanhood. Right now she’s earned the Members Only jacket & I pray that her Superwoman Cape is a little further off in the future than mine was when I was her age.

Lil Esh has paid attention and is giving her self 2 weeks before beginning her job. I’m proud of her for putting herself in position to be employed fresh out of school, as many continue to suffer unemployment, and that she knows enough to reward herself with a break before beginning her foray into this oft viny world that is adulthood.

Rally around your own as they begin some version of a personal New Year this May. Encourage those who are almost there & beginning to tire of what feels like the Never Ending Story. Senioritis is a fluthamucka & tends to creep up by the end of sophomore year. Remind your folks that it CAN be done & to keep their eyes on the prize. I’m going to continue to lift mine up & be there to catch them when they stumble. I’m going to take great pleasure in…

2 comments:

Before I comment I have to say the child inside of me really likes the Van inspired sneakers with the little bear on them...yes I am that kid sometimes.

Now, I am going to make my sister read this post. Yes I did say make, sometimes it is a struggle with that one. Anywho she graduates this year and I've been on her to just make a decision. I don't think she fully comprehends what it means to graduate and settle into a funk. The real world is totally different than that magical place we call university. The rules are different and the games are not the same.

It will be a wee bit nostalgic to watch her walk...remembering where I was just 8 years ago...thinking I knew everything! That last part is so oh so laughable right now.

I rather love the Vans myself. I also found them in Air Force Ones & Blazers. The Vans reminded me of everything I loved in high school. Ahhh...the wonder years.

Things are GREATLY DIFFERENT now then they were 8 years ago. On top of the general disillusionment coming out of school is the absurd surreality that "reality" tv has imposed. Work ethic? What's that? Professionalism? What's that? Time & place appropriateness? Never heard of it.

I'm so very thankful that Lil Esh has paid attention all these years to those who had her best interest at heart & also put in the time & energy to help her "get it." We're lucky--she could have disregarded us like so many do. Encourage your sister to pay attention to the road signs, not to be swayed by all the shiny BS waiting to sap her earnings, & never be afraid to reinvent.